The present invention relates to processes for forming fibers and materials formed therefrom. Melt blowing and other fiber-producing processes are processes in which the final polymer shape is achieved with the aid of a fluid flow. In the melt blowing process, for example, a fine polymeric stream is extruded into a high-velocity gas stream. The force of the gas rapidly attenuates the polymer into fibers or filaments which typically have very fine diameters in a range of from 0.1 microns to 100 microns. This extreme fineness gives melt blown fibers advantages in uses such as insulation, absorbent material, and filters. An overview of the melt blowing process is given in Shambaugh, R. L., 1988, A Macroscopic View of the Melt-Blowing Process for Producing Microfibers, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. Vol. 27, No. 12, pgs. 2363-72. The performance characteristics of various melt blowing geometries are given in Kayser, J. C., Shambaugh, R. L., 1990, The Manufacture of Continuous Polymeric Filaments by the Melt-Blowing Process, Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol. 30, No. 19, pgs. 1237-51. Further discussion of the melt blowing process and other performance characteristics is found in Uyttendaele, M. A., Shambaugh, R. L., 1989, The Flow Field of Annular Jets at Reynolds Numbers, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 28, No. 11, pgs. 1735-40; Majumdar, B., Shambaugh, R. L., 1991, Velocity and Temperature Fields of Annular Jets, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 30, No. 6, pgs. 1300-06; and Mohammed, A., Shambaugh, R. L., 1993, Three-Dimensional Flow Field of a Rectangular Array of Practical Air Jets, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 32, No. 5, pgs. 976-80; and Uyttendaele, M. A., Shambaugh, R. L., 1990, Melt Blowing: General Equation Development and Experimental Verification, AIChE J., 36 (No. 2), 175. Each of the references cited herein is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Large amounts of air must be compressed, heated and recycled in a typical commercial melt blowing facility. Substantial cost savings would result if the air requirements needed to produce fibers of a given size or shape could be reduced.